Re: [RE-wrenches] micro-inverters

[Christopher Warfel]

I do know that powder coating is essential in protecting switchgear in 
or near a marine environment. We provided pictures of dc disconnects 
with and without to SolarPro. Those that did not have it, had to be 
replaced within one year. The equipment was 600 yards from the ocean.


We have been only installing Enphase in this environment when our 
customers are not opting for battery systems. So far in two years no 
failures for four residential systems.


Chris



On 9/15/2016 12:09 PM, William Dorsett wrote:


It makes you wonder about Enphase’s decision to drop the powder 
coating on their current 215’s. 250’s I don’t know.


*From:*RE-wrenches [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] 
*On Behalf Of *August Goers

*Sent:* Thursday, September 15, 2016 10:38 AM
*To:* RE-wrenches
*Subject:* Re: [RE-wrenches] micro-inverters

Here’s a pic of an M210:

burned enphase m210.jpg

I guess a picture is worth a thousand words.

August

*From:*RE-wrenches [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org 
<mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org>] *On Behalf Of 
*frank -bz products

*Sent:* Wednesday, September 14, 2016 12:25 PM
*To:* RE-wrenches
*Subject:* Re: [RE-wrenches] micro-inverters

Re 190's.

Not much to learn from dissecting a swollen 190. Most of the time the 
swelling is caused by electrolytic capacitors that have failed. Some 
very high current capacitors actually have brackets to bolt them down 
to minimize swelling.


Frank BZP.

BZ Products INC.
8801 Gravois Rd.
St.Louis MO 63123 USA
314-644-2490
www.bz-products.net <http://www.bz-products.net>

On 9/14/2016 1:58 PM, Benn Kilburn wrote:

You guys should really cut one of those swelled up ones and share
the photos with us :)


Benn Kilburn

SkyFire Energy Inc.

780-906-7807


On Sep 14, 2016, at 11:14 AM, Jerry Shafer
<jerrysgarag...@gmail.com <mailto:jerrysgarag...@gmail.com>> wrote:

The 190's had component issues which case them to balloon up
Jerry

On Sep 14, 2016 10:11 AM, "William Miller"
<will...@millersolar.com <mailto:will...@millersolar.com>> wrote:

Colleagues:

We have M190s fail in beach installations. Some have had the
cases swell up like there is a tumor inside. I haven't cut
them open to see what's inside because they need to go back to
manufacturer.

William


On Sep 14, 2016, at 9:32 AM, Jerry Shafer
<jerrysgarag...@gmail.com <mailto:jerrysgarag...@gmail.com>>
wrote:

Mike
I also work near the ocean, its all around me here in
Hawaii, we have had the 190's fail but not to
environmental conditions and very few issues with 215's.
Do you have any pics of the damage as l have seen very
little salt issues.
Jerry

On Sep 13, 2016 9:11 PM, "Mike Nelson"
<mdelectricso...@gmail.com
<mailto:mdelectricso...@gmail.com>> wrote:

I've had so many Enphase failures it's kind of ridiculous.
We install most of our systems near the ocean so corrosion
has played a big factor. The newer micro inverters are
holding a much better, 215 and 250's. I have learned over
the years that SMA makes the best product, and I mostly
stick with them. Sometimes micro inverters are requested
or really fit the installation particulars, so I still use
them occasionally. I haven't yet tried solar edge.

Michael D Nelson

MD Electric & Solar, Inc.

707-684-0064  mobile

707-884-1862  office

www.mdelectricsolar.com <http://www.mdelectricsolar.com>

Sent from my iPhone


On Sep 13, 2016, at 6:23 PM, Rebecca Lundberg
<rebecca.lundb...@gmail.com
<mailto:rebecca.lundb...@gmail.com>> wrote:

Esteemed wrenches,

I'm hoping the experience of this list can help give
us a broader perspective on the current market
performance and as a secondary concern, tech support
(or lack thereof), from solar micro-inverter
manufacturers.

Are others having much trouble with micro-inverters?
We have had repeated issues with several different
brands on our systems in Minnesota:
- 8 Enphase systems with mostly M210 and M215, have
had to repeatedly go back to sites to replace units.
The new replacement ones seem to be lasting better (we
sure hope they will). Enphase is harder to contact in
recent years, but we're happy they at least provide a
predictable stipend. Are you also having to replace 

Re: [RE-wrenches] micro-inverters

[Bradley Bassett]

The SMA SB240 microinverter is discontinued.

Brad

On Thu, Sep 15, 2016 at 9:04 AM, William Dorsett <wmdors...@sbcglobal.net>
wrote:

> Brad, which has been discontinued, the SMA 240’s or Trimetric? While we
> don’t have a large collection of Enphase systems, after they are installed
> when needed to think of them at all, we have a consensus among owners of
> satisfaction especially in terms of monitoring and troubleshooting that
> goes with microinverters.
>
>
>
> I’m learning new features on Enphase’s website constantly. For what string
> inverter can you see a continuous graph of DC volts and input current, AC
> output volts and current, as well as frequency and internal temp of the
> inverters at the module level? At this point we may have slightly over 1%
> failure rate on systems that are up to six years in the field. Keep in mind
> that while there is talk of capacitors failing, SMA 240’s also uses a row
> of paralleled caps.
>
>
>
> And I sense an uptick in installer support.
>
>
>
> There is one area where string inverters have an advantage and that is the
> ability to place a lightening arrester between the module(s) and the
> inverter, making micros more vulnerable in that regard.
>
>
>
> Bill Dorsett
>
>
>
> *From:* RE-wrenches [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] *On
> Behalf Of *Bradley Bassett
> *Sent:* Thursday, September 15, 2016 10:02 AM
> *To:* RE-wrenches
> *Subject:* Re: [RE-wrenches] micro-inverters
>
>
>
> My SMA micro-inverters have been rock solid for a couple of years. They do
> not taper off and do not communicate with the Sunny Island. The only issue
> I've had is that it seems that an internet connection is needed for the
> monitoring to work, even for the local monitoring. If there is no
> monitoring ie: power outage for the neighborhood DSL, then there is no
> direct way to see if they are working or not. Indirectly when off grid, my
> Trimetric is the best source of information on charge or discharge. A
> separate kWh would of course provide more accurate info on their status.
>
> I believe that these have been discontinued now though.
>
>
>
> Brad
>
> AEE Solar
>
>
>
> On Thu, Sep 15, 2016 at 6:46 AM, Drake <drake.chamberlin@
> redwoodalliance.org> wrote:
>
> Is it the consensus that Enphase 215 inverters on are the most reliable
> micro inverters (even though the tech support may be lacking these days)?
>
> Someone on this list mentioned that the SMA micros had a rocky time of it.
> What were the problems with these?
>
> Do the SMA micro inverters taper charge when AC coupled with Sunny Islands?
>
> Drake Chamberlin
>
>
>
>
>
> *Athens Electric LLCOH License 44810CO License 3773NABCEP Certified Solar
> PV 740-448-7328 <740-448-7328>*http://athens-electric.com/
>
> At 03:24 PM 9/14/2016, you wrote:
>
>
> Re 190's.
>
> Not much to learn from dissecting a swollen 190. Most of the time the
> swelling is caused by electrolytic capacitors that have failed. Some very
> high current capacitors actually have brackets to bolt them down to
> minimize swelling.
>
> Frank BZP.
>
> BZ Products INC.
>
> 8801 Gravois Rd.
>
> St.Louis MO 63123 USA
>
> 314-644-2490
>
> www.bz-products.net
>
> On 9/14/2016 1:58 PM, Benn Kilburn wrote:
>
> You guys should really cut one of those swelled up ones and share the
> photos with us :)
>
> Benn Kilburn
> SkyFire Energy Inc.
> 780-906-7807
>
> On Sep 14, 2016, at 11:14 AM, Jerry Shafer <jerrysgarag...@gmail.com >
> wrote:
>
>
> The 190's had component issues which case them to balloon up
> Jerry
>
> On Sep 14, 2016 10:11 AM, "William Miller" <will...@millersolar.com >
> wrote:
>
> Colleagues:
>
> We have M190s fail in beach installations. Some have had the cases swell
> up like there is a tumor inside. I haven't cut them open to see what's
> inside because they need to go back to manufacturer.
>
> William
>
> On Sep 14, 2016, at 9:32 AM, Jerry Shafer <jerrysgarag...@gmail.com >
> wrote:
>
>
> Mike
>
> I also work near the ocean, its all around me here in Hawaii, we have had
> the 190's fail but not to environmental conditions and very few issues with
> 215's. Do you have any pics of the damage as l have seen very little salt
> issues.
>
> Jerry
>
> On Sep 13, 2016 9:11 PM, "Mike Nelson" < mdelectricso...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I've had so many Enphase failures it's kind of ridiculous. We install most
> of our systems near the ocean so corrosion has played a big factor. The
> newer micro inverters are holding a much better, 215 and 250's. I hav

Re: [RE-wrenches] micro-inverters

[William Dorsett]

It makes you wonder about Enphase’s decision to drop the powder coating on 
their current 215’s. 250’s I don’t know.

 

From: RE-wrenches [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf 
Of August Goers
Sent: Thursday, September 15, 2016 10:38 AM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] micro-inverters

 

Here’s a pic of an M210:

 

burned enphase m210.jpg

 

 

I guess a picture is worth a thousand words.

 

August

 

From: RE-wrenches [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf 
Of frank -bz products
Sent: Wednesday, September 14, 2016 12:25 PM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] micro-inverters

 

Re 190's.

Not much to learn from dissecting a swollen 190. Most of the time the swelling 
is caused by electrolytic capacitors that have failed. Some very high current 
capacitors actually have brackets to bolt them down to minimize swelling.

Frank BZP.

BZ Products INC.
8801 Gravois Rd.
St.Louis MO 63123 USA
314-644-2490
www.bz-products.net

On 9/14/2016 1:58 PM, Benn Kilburn wrote:

You guys should really cut one of those swelled up ones and share the photos 
with us :)


Benn Kilburn 

SkyFire Energy Inc. 

780-906-7807


On Sep 14, 2016, at 11:14 AM, Jerry Shafer <jerrysgarag...@gmail.com> wrote:

The 190's had component issues which case them to balloon up
Jerry

 

On Sep 14, 2016 10:11 AM, "William Miller" <will...@millersolar.com> wrote:

Colleagues:

 

We have M190s fail in beach installations. Some have had the cases swell up 
like there is a tumor inside. I haven't cut them open to see what's inside 
because they need to go back to manufacturer. 

 

William


On Sep 14, 2016, at 9:32 AM, Jerry Shafer <jerrysgarag...@gmail.com> wrote:

Mike
I also work near the ocean, its all around me here in Hawaii, we have had the 
190's fail but not to environmental conditions and very few issues with 215's. 
Do you have any pics of the damage as l have seen very little salt issues.
Jerry

 

On Sep 13, 2016 9:11 PM, "Mike Nelson" <mdelectricso...@gmail.com> wrote:

I've had so many Enphase failures it's kind of ridiculous. We install most of 
our systems near the ocean so corrosion has played a big factor. The newer 
micro inverters are holding a much better, 215 and 250's. I have learned over 
the years that SMA makes the best product, and I mostly stick with them. 
Sometimes micro inverters are requested or really fit the installation 
particulars, so I still use them occasionally. I haven't yet tried solar edge.

Michael D Nelson

MD Electric & Solar, Inc.

707-684-0064 mobile

707-884-1862 office

www.mdelectricsolar.com

Sent from my iPhone


On Sep 13, 2016, at 6:23 PM, Rebecca Lundberg <rebecca.lundb...@gmail.com> 
wrote:

Esteemed wrenches,

I'm hoping the experience of this list can help give us a broader perspective 
on the current market performance and as a secondary concern, tech support (or 
lack thereof), from solar micro-inverter manufacturers.

Are others having much trouble with micro-inverters? We have had repeated 
issues with several different brands on our systems in Minnesota:
- 8 Enphase systems with mostly M210 and M215, have had to repeatedly go back 
to sites to replace units. The new replacement ones seem to be lasting better 
(we sure hope they will). Enphase is harder to contact in recent years, but 
we're happy they at least provide a predictable stipend. Are you also having to 
replace a lot of this brand of product? Are the newer models holding up better?

- We gave a new inverter busbar design concept a try (tenKsolar) and though the 
micro-inverters were supposed to take turns and be 'redundant,' the ones with 
APS micro-inverters needed 100% replacement and the ones with Lead Solar 
micro-inverters have a problem where if one of them fails it appears to send a 
signal to all the rest so the entire busbar stops working -- in action it's far 
from redundant. When we purchased the tenKsolar Rais Inverter Bus (RIB) the 
spec sheet didn't tell us what brand of micro-inverter they would use as the 
OEM so we couldn't research the viability of the product or company or warranty 
stipend (or lack there-of) of the micro-inverter OEM. We assumed it was a 
tenKsolar product and they would provide warranty replacements, service, and 
tech support, but our experience has been far from that. When something goes 
wrong tenK says 'it's not our product that's failing' because they don't 
actually manufacture the micro-inverter (it's an OEM), the micro-inverter 
company says 'it's not our product' because tenKsolar has it wired and used in 
a very unique manner specific to the tenKsolar product, so both manufacturers 
are backing away from any responsibility. A 25-year warranty on the inverter 
busbar is a great concept but if/when something goes wrong there is no support 
and no apparent warranty at all except maybe they will send us a new component 
that needs several hours of work to 

Re: [RE-wrenches] micro-inverters

[William Dorsett]

Brad, which has been discontinued, the SMA 240’s or Trimetric? While we don’t 
have a large collection of Enphase systems, after they are installed when 
needed to think of them at all, we have a consensus among owners of 
satisfaction especially in terms of monitoring and troubleshooting that goes 
with microinverters. 

 

I’m learning new features on Enphase’s website constantly. For what string 
inverter can you see a continuous graph of DC volts and input current, AC 
output volts and current, as well as frequency and internal temp of the 
inverters at the module level? At this point we may have slightly over 1% 
failure rate on systems that are up to six years in the field. Keep in mind 
that while there is talk of capacitors failing, SMA 240’s also uses a row of 
paralleled caps.

 

And I sense an uptick in installer support.

 

There is one area where string inverters have an advantage and that is the 
ability to place a lightening arrester between the module(s) and the inverter, 
making micros more vulnerable in that regard.

 

Bill Dorsett

 

From: RE-wrenches [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf 
Of Bradley Bassett
Sent: Thursday, September 15, 2016 10:02 AM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] micro-inverters

 

My SMA micro-inverters have been rock solid for a couple of years. They do not 
taper off and do not communicate with the Sunny Island. The only issue I've had 
is that it seems that an internet connection is needed for the monitoring to 
work, even for the local monitoring. If there is no monitoring ie: power outage 
for the neighborhood DSL, then there is no direct way to see if they are 
working or not. Indirectly when off grid, my Trimetric is the best source of 
information on charge or discharge. A separate kWh would of course provide more 
accurate info on their status.

I believe that these have been discontinued now though.

 

Brad

AEE Solar

 

On Thu, Sep 15, 2016 at 6:46 AM, Drake <drake.chamber...@redwoodalliance.org> 
wrote:

Is it the consensus that Enphase 215 inverters on are the most reliable micro 
inverters (even though the tech support may be lacking these days)? 

Someone on this list mentioned that the SMA micros had a rocky time of it. What 
were the problems with these? 

Do the SMA micro inverters taper charge when AC coupled with Sunny Islands?

Drake Chamberlin
Athens Electric LLC
OH License 44810
CO License 3773
NABCEP Certified Solar PV 
740-448-7328
http://athens-electric.com/ 

At 03:24 PM 9/14/2016, you wrote:




Re 190's.

Not much to learn from dissecting a swollen 190. Most of the time the swelling 
is caused by electrolytic capacitors that have failed. Some very high current 
capacitors actually have brackets to bolt them down to minimize swelling.

Frank BZP.

BZ Products INC.
8801 Gravois Rd.
St.Louis MO 63123 USA
314-644-2490
www.bz-products.net

On 9/14/2016 1:58 PM, Benn Kilburn wrote:



You guys should really cut one of those swelled up ones and share the photos 
with us :)

Benn Kilburn 
SkyFire Energy Inc. 
780-906-7807

On Sep 14, 2016, at 11:14 AM, Jerry Shafer <jerrysgarag...@gmail.com > wrote:




The 190's had component issues which case them to balloon up
Jerry

On Sep 14, 2016 10:11 AM, "William Miller" <will...@millersolar.com > wrote:

Colleagues:

We have M190s fail in beach installations. Some have had the cases swell up 
like there is a tumor inside. I haven't cut them open to see what's inside 
because they need to go back to manufacturer. 

William

On Sep 14, 2016, at 9:32 AM, Jerry Shafer <jerrysgarag...@gmail.com > wrote:




Mike

I also work near the ocean, its all around me here in Hawaii, we have had the 
190's fail but not to environmental conditions and very few issues with 215's. 
Do you have any pics of the damage as l have seen very little salt issues.

Jerry

On Sep 13, 2016 9:11 PM, "Mike Nelson" < mdelectricso...@gmail.com 
<mailto:mdelectricso...@gmail.com> > wrote:

I've had so many Enphase failures it's kind of ridiculous. We install most of 
our systems near the ocean so corrosion has played a big factor. The newer 
micro inverters are holding a much better, 215 and 250's. I have learned over 
the years that SMA makes the best product, and I mostly stick with them. 
Sometimes micro inverters are requested or really fit the installation 
particulars, so I still use them occasionally. I haven't yet tried solar edge.

Michael D Nelson

MD Electric & Solar, Inc.

707-684-0064 mobile

707-884-1862 office

www.mdelectricsolar.com 

Sent from my iPhone

On Sep 13, 2016, at 6:23 PM, Rebecca Lundberg < rebecca.lundb...@gmail.com 
<mailto:rebecca.lundb...@gmail.com> > wrote:




Esteemed wrenches,

I'm hoping the experience of this list can help give us a broader perspective 
on the current market performance and as a secondary concern, tech support (or 
lack thereof), from solar micro-inverter manufact

Re: [RE-wrenches] micro-inverters

[August Goers]

Here’s a pic of an M210:



[image: burned enphase m210.jpg]





I guess a picture is worth a thousand words.



August



*From:* RE-wrenches [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] *On
Behalf Of *frank -bz products
*Sent:* Wednesday, September 14, 2016 12:25 PM
*To:* RE-wrenches
*Subject:* Re: [RE-wrenches] micro-inverters



Re 190's.

Not much to learn from dissecting a swollen 190. Most of the time the
swelling is caused by electrolytic capacitors that have failed. Some very
high current capacitors actually have brackets to bolt them down to
minimize swelling.

Frank BZP.

BZ Products INC.

8801 Gravois Rd.

St.Louis MO 63123 USA

314-644-2490

www.bz-products.net

On 9/14/2016 1:58 PM, Benn Kilburn wrote:

You guys should really cut one of those swelled up ones and share the
photos with us :)


Benn Kilburn

SkyFire Energy Inc.

780-906-7807


On Sep 14, 2016, at 11:14 AM, Jerry Shafer <jerrysgarag...@gmail.com> wrote:

The 190's had component issues which case them to balloon up
Jerry



On Sep 14, 2016 10:11 AM, "William Miller" <will...@millersolar.com> wrote:

Colleagues:



We have M190s fail in beach installations. Some have had the cases swell up
like there is a tumor inside. I haven't cut them open to see what's inside
because they need to go back to manufacturer.



William


On Sep 14, 2016, at 9:32 AM, Jerry Shafer <jerrysgarag...@gmail.com> wrote:

Mike
I also work near the ocean, its all around me here in Hawaii, we have had
the 190's fail but not to environmental conditions and very few issues with
215's. Do you have any pics of the damage as l have seen very little salt
issues.
Jerry



On Sep 13, 2016 9:11 PM, "Mike Nelson" <mdelectricso...@gmail.com> wrote:

I've had so many Enphase failures it's kind of ridiculous. We install most
of our systems near the ocean so corrosion has played a big factor. The
newer micro inverters are holding a much better, 215 and 250's. I have
learned over the years that SMA makes the best product, and I mostly stick
with them. Sometimes micro inverters are requested or really fit the
installation particulars, so I still use them occasionally. I haven't yet
tried solar edge.

Michael D Nelson

MD Electric & Solar, Inc.

707-684-0064 mobile

707-884-1862 office

www.mdelectricsolar.com

Sent from my iPhone


On Sep 13, 2016, at 6:23 PM, Rebecca Lundberg <rebecca.lundb...@gmail.com>
wrote:

Esteemed wrenches,

I'm hoping the experience of this list can help give us a broader
perspective on the current market performance and as a secondary concern,
tech support (or lack thereof), from solar micro-inverter manufacturers.

Are others having much trouble with micro-inverters? We have had repeated
issues with several different brands on our systems in Minnesota:
- 8 Enphase systems with mostly M210 and M215, have had to repeatedly go
back to sites to replace units. The new replacement ones seem to be lasting
better (we sure hope they will). Enphase is harder to contact in recent
years, but we're happy they at least provide a predictable stipend. Are you
also having to replace a lot of this brand of product? Are the newer models
holding up better?

- We gave a new inverter busbar design concept a try (tenKsolar) and though
the micro-inverters were supposed to take turns and be 'redundant,' the
ones with APS micro-inverters needed 100% replacement and the ones with
Lead Solar micro-inverters have a problem where if one of them fails it
appears to send a signal to all the rest so the entire busbar stops working
-- in action it's far from redundant. When we purchased the tenKsolar Rais
Inverter Bus (RIB) the spec sheet didn't tell us what brand of
micro-inverter they would use as the OEM so we couldn't research the
viability of the product or company or warranty stipend (or lack there-of)
of the micro-inverter OEM. We assumed it was a tenKsolar product and they
would provide warranty replacements, service, and tech support, but our
experience has been far from that. When something goes wrong tenK says
'it's not our product that's failing' because they don't actually
manufacture the micro-inverter (it's an OEM), the micro-inverter company
says 'it's not our product' because tenKsolar has it wired and used in a
very unique manner specific to the tenKsolar product, so both manufacturers
are backing away from any responsibility. A 25-year warranty on the
inverter busbar is a great concept but if/when something goes wrong there
is no support and no apparent warranty at all except maybe they will send
us a new component that needs several hours of work to re-install, so
either the installer does the warranty work for free or the customer has a
very unexpected expense to get their system back up and running a year or
two after it was installed; we think both scenarios are unacceptable (from
our installer perspective :-), do any of you have experiences you can share
here?

I'm wondering if the climate in

Re: [RE-wrenches] micro-inverters

[Bradley Bassett]

My SMA micro-inverters have been rock solid for a couple of years. They do
not taper off and do not communicate with the Sunny Island. The only issue
I've had is that it seems that an internet connection is needed for the
monitoring to work, even for the local monitoring. If there is no
monitoring ie: power outage for the neighborhood DSL, then there is no
direct way to see if they are working or not. Indirectly when off grid, my
Trimetric is the best source of information on charge or discharge. A
separate kWh would of course provide more accurate info on their status.

I believe that these have been discontinued now though.

Brad
AEE Solar

On Thu, Sep 15, 2016 at 6:46 AM, Drake  wrote:

> Is it the consensus that Enphase 215 inverters on are the most reliable
> micro inverters (even though the tech support may be lacking these days)?
>
> Someone on this list mentioned that the SMA micros had a rocky time of it.
> What were the problems with these?
>
> Do the SMA micro inverters taper charge when AC coupled with Sunny Islands?
>
> Drake Chamberlin
>
>
>
>
>
> *Athens Electric LLC OH License 44810 CO License 3773 NABCEP Certified
> Solar PV 740-448-7328 <740-448-7328> *http://athens-electric.com/
>
> At 03:24 PM 9/14/2016, you wrote:
>
> Re 190's.
>
> Not much to learn from dissecting a swollen 190. Most of the time the
> swelling is caused by electrolytic capacitors that have failed. Some very
> high current capacitors actually have brackets to bolt them down to
> minimize swelling.
>
> Frank BZP.
>
> BZ Products INC.
> 8801 Gravois Rd.
> St.Louis MO 63123 USA314-644-2490www.bz-products.net
>
> On 9/14/2016 1:58 PM, Benn Kilburn wrote:
>
> You guys should really cut one of those swelled up ones and share the
> photos with us :)
>
> Benn Kilburn
> SkyFire Energy Inc.
> 780-906-7807
>
> On Sep 14, 2016, at 11:14 AM, Jerry Shafer 
> wrote:
>
> The 190's had component issues which case them to balloon up
> Jerry
>
> On Sep 14, 2016 10:11 AM, "William Miller" 
> wrote:
> Colleagues:
>
> We have M190s fail in beach installations. Some have had the cases swell
> up like there is a tumor inside. I haven't cut them open to see what's
> inside because they need to go back to manufacturer.
>
> William
>
> On Sep 14, 2016, at 9:32 AM, Jerry Shafer 
> wrote:
>
> Mike
> I also work near the ocean, its all around me here in Hawaii, we have had
> the 190's fail but not to environmental conditions and very few issues with
> 215's. Do you have any pics of the damage as l have seen very little salt
> issues.
> Jerry
>
> On Sep 13, 2016 9:11 PM, "Mike Nelson" < mdelectricso...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I've had so many Enphase failures it's kind of ridiculous. We install most
> of our systems near the ocean so corrosion has played a big factor. The
> newer micro inverters are holding a much better, 215 and 250's. I have
> learned over the years that SMA makes the best product, and I mostly stick
> with them. Sometimes micro inverters are requested or really fit the
> installation particulars, so I still use them occasionally. I haven't yet
> tried solar edge.
>
> Michael D Nelson
> MD Electric & Solar, Inc.
> 707-684-0064 mobile
> 707-884-1862 office
> www.mdelectricsolar.com
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Sep 13, 2016, at 6:23 PM, Rebecca Lundberg < rebecca.lundb...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> Esteemed wrenches,
>
> I'm hoping the experience of this list can help give us a broader
> perspective on the current market performance and as a secondary concern,
> tech support (or lack thereof), from solar micro-inverter manufacturers.
>
> Are others having much trouble with micro-inverters? We have had repeated
> issues with several different brands on our systems in Minnesota:
> - 8 Enphase systems with mostly M210 and M215, have had to repeatedly go
> back to sites to replace units. The new replacement ones seem to be lasting
> better (we sure hope they will). Enphase is harder to contact in recent
> years, but we're happy they at least provide a predictable stipend. Are you
> also having to replace a lot of this brand of product? Are the newer models
> holding up better?
>
> - We gave a new inverter busbar design concept a try (tenKsolar) and
> though the micro-inverters were supposed to take turns and be 'redundant,'
> the ones with APS micro-inverters needed 100% replacement and the ones with
> Lead Solar micro-inverters have a problem where if one of them fails it
> appears to send a signal to all the rest so the entire busbar stops working
> -- in action it's far from redundant. When we purchased the tenKsolar Rais
> Inverter Bus (RIB) the spec sheet didn't tell us what brand of
> micro-inverter they would use as the OEM so we couldn't research the
> viability of the product or company or warranty stipend (or lack there-of)
> of the micro-inverter OEM. We assumed it was a tenKsolar product and they
> would provide 

Re: [RE-wrenches] micro-inverters

[Drake]

Is it the consensus that Enphase 215 inverters on are the most 
reliable micro inverters (even though the tech support may be lacking 
these days)?


Someone on this list mentioned that the SMA micros had a rocky time 
of it. What were the problems with these?


Do the SMA micro inverters taper charge when AC coupled with Sunny Islands?

Drake Chamberlin
Athens Electric LLC
OH License 44810
CO License 3773
NABCEP Certified Solar PV
740-448-7328
http://athens-electric.com/

At 03:24 PM 9/14/2016, you wrote:


Re 190's.

Not much to learn from dissecting a swollen 190. Most of the time 
the swelling is caused by electrolytic capacitors that have failed. 
Some very high current capacitors actually have brackets to bolt 
them down to minimize swelling.


Frank BZP.

BZ Products INC.
8801 Gravois Rd.
St.Louis MO 63123 USA
314-644-2490
www.bz-products.netOn 9/14/2016 1:58 PM, 
Benn Kilburn wrote:
You guys should really cut one of those swelled up ones and share 
the photos with us :)


Benn Kilburn
SkyFire Energy Inc.
780-906-7807

On Sep 14, 2016, at 11:14 AM, Jerry Shafer 
<jerrysgarag...@gmail.com> wrote:



The 190's had component issues which case them to balloon up
Jerry

On Sep 14, 2016 10:11 AM, "William Miller" 
<will...@millersolar.com> wrote:

Colleagues:

We have M190s fail in beach installations. Some have had the cases 
swell up like there is a tumor inside. I haven't cut them open to 
see what's inside because they need to go back to manufacturer.


William

On Sep 14, 2016, at 9:32 AM, Jerry Shafer 
<jerrysgarag...@gmail.com> wrote:



Mike
I also work near the ocean, its all around me here in Hawaii, we 
have had the 190's fail but not to environmental conditions and 
very few issues with 215's. Do you have any pics of the damage as 
l have seen very little salt issues.

Jerry

On Sep 13, 2016 9:11 PM, "Mike Nelson" 
<mdelectricso...@gmail.com> wrote:
I've had so many Enphase failures it's kind of ridiculous. We 
install most of our systems near the ocean so corrosion has 
played a big factor. The newer micro inverters are holding a much 
better, 215 and 250's. I have learned over the years that SMA 
makes the best product, and I mostly stick with them. Sometimes 
micro inverters are requested or really fit the installation 
particulars, so I still use them occasionally. I haven't yet tried solar edge.


Michael D Nelson
MD Electric & Solar, Inc.
707-684-0064 mobile
707-884-1862 office
www.mdelectricsolar.com
Sent from my iPhone

On Sep 13, 2016, at 6:23 PM, Rebecca Lundberg 
<rebecca.lundb...@gmail.com> wrote:



Esteemed wrenches,

I'm hoping the experience of this list can help give us a 
broader perspective on the current market performance and as a 
secondary concern, tech support (or lack thereof), from solar 
micro-inverter manufacturers.


Are others having much trouble with micro-inverters? We have had 
repeated issues with several different brands on our systems in Minnesota:
- 8 Enphase systems with mostly M210 and M215, have had to 
repeatedly go back to sites to replace units. The new 
replacement ones seem to be lasting better (we sure hope they 
will). Enphase is harder to contact in recent years, but we're 
happy they at least provide a predictable stipend. Are you also 
having to replace a lot of this brand of product? Are the newer 
models holding up better?


- We gave a new inverter busbar design concept a try (tenKsolar) 
and though the micro-inverters were supposed to take turns and 
be 'redundant,' the ones with APS micro-inverters needed 100% 
replacement and the ones with Lead Solar micro-inverters have a 
problem where if one of them fails it appears to send a signal 
to all the rest so the entire busbar stops working -- in action 
it's far from redundant. When we purchased the tenKsolar Rais 
Inverter Bus (RIB) the spec sheet didn't tell us what brand of 
micro-inverter they would use as the OEM so we couldn't research 
the viability of the product or company or warranty stipend (or 
lack there-of) of the micro-inverter OEM. We assumed it was a 
tenKsolar product and they would provide warranty replacements, 
service, and tech support, but our experience has been far from 
that. When something goes wrong tenK says 'it's not our product 
that's failing' because they don't actually manufacture the 
micro-inverter (it's an OEM), the micro-inverter company says 
'it's not our product' because tenKsolar has it wired and used 
in a very unique manner specific to the tenKsolar product, so 
both manufacturers are backing away from any responsibility. A 
25-year warranty on the inverter busbar is a great concept but 
if/when something goes wrong there is no support and no apparent 
warranty at all except maybe they will send 

Re: [RE-wrenches] micro-inverters

[Benn Kilburn]

You guys should really cut one of those swelled up ones and share the photos 
with us :)

Benn Kilburn
SkyFire Energy Inc. 
780-906-7807

> On Sep 14, 2016, at 11:14 AM, Jerry Shafer  wrote:
> 
> The 190's had component issues which case them to balloon up
> Jerry
> 
> 
>> On Sep 14, 2016 10:11 AM, "William Miller"  wrote:
>> Colleagues:
>> 
>> We have M190s fail in beach installations. Some have had the cases swell up 
>> like there is a tumor inside. I haven't cut them open to see what's inside 
>> because they need to go back to manufacturer. 
>> 
>> William
>> 
>>> On Sep 14, 2016, at 9:32 AM, Jerry Shafer  wrote:
>>> 
>>> Mike
>>> I also work near the ocean, its all around me here in Hawaii, we have had 
>>> the 190's fail but not to environmental conditions and very few issues with 
>>> 215's. Do you have any pics of the damage as l have seen very little salt 
>>> issues.
>>> Jerry
>>> 
>>> 
 On Sep 13, 2016 9:11 PM, "Mike Nelson"  wrote:
 I've had so many Enphase failures it's kind of ridiculous. We install most 
 of our systems near the ocean so corrosion has played a big factor. The 
 newer micro inverters are holding a much better, 215 and 250's. I have 
 learned over the years that SMA makes the best product, and I mostly stick 
 with them. Sometimes micro inverters are requested or really fit the 
 installation particulars, so I still use them occasionally. I haven't yet 
 tried solar edge.
 
 Michael D Nelson
 MD Electric & Solar, Inc.
 707-684-0064 mobile
 707-884-1862 office
 www.mdelectricsolar.com
 Sent from my iPhone
 
> On Sep 13, 2016, at 6:23 PM, Rebecca Lundberg 
>  wrote:
> 
> Esteemed wrenches,
> 
> I'm hoping the experience of this list can help give us a broader 
> perspective on the current market performance and as a secondary concern, 
> tech support (or lack thereof), from solar micro-inverter manufacturers.
> 
> Are others having much trouble with micro-inverters? We have had repeated 
> issues with several different brands on our systems in Minnesota:
> - 8 Enphase systems with mostly M210 and M215, have had to repeatedly go 
> back to sites to replace units. The new replacement ones seem to be 
> lasting better (we sure hope they will). Enphase is harder to contact in 
> recent years, but we're happy they at least provide a predictable 
> stipend. Are you also having to replace a lot of this brand of product? 
> Are the newer models holding up better?
> 
> - We gave a new inverter busbar design concept a try (tenKsolar) and 
> though the micro-inverters were supposed to take turns and be 
> 'redundant,' the ones with APS micro-inverters needed 100% replacement 
> and the ones with Lead Solar micro-inverters have a problem where if one 
> of them fails it appears to send a signal to all the rest so the entire 
> busbar stops working -- in action it's far from redundant. When we 
> purchased the tenKsolar Rais Inverter Bus (RIB) the spec sheet didn't 
> tell us what brand of micro-inverter they would use as the OEM so we 
> couldn't research the viability of the product or company or warranty 
> stipend (or lack there-of) of the micro-inverter OEM. We assumed it was a 
> tenKsolar product and they would provide warranty replacements, service, 
> and tech support, but our experience has been far from that. When 
> something goes wrong tenK says 'it's not our product that's failing' 
> because they don't actually manufacture the micro-inverter (it's an OEM), 
> the micro-inverter company says 'it's not our product' because tenKsolar 
> has it wired and used in a very unique manner specific to the tenKsolar 
> product, so both manufacturers are backing away from any responsibility. 
> A 25-year warranty on the inverter busbar is a great concept but if/when 
> something goes wrong there is no support and no apparent warranty at all 
> except maybe they will send us a new component that needs several hours 
> of work to re-install, so either the installer does the warranty work for 
> free or the customer has a very unexpected expense to get their system 
> back up and running a year or two after it was installed; we think both 
> scenarios are unacceptable (from our installer perspective :-), do any of 
> you have experiences you can share here?
> 
> I'm wondering if the climate in MN makes us an anomaly. Based on these 
> micro-inverter experiences we feel like the Rapid Shutdown rule has 
> forced us to use dc optimizers on residential applications whether we 
> want to or not -- is that pretty much what all of you are doing too? 
> 
> Rebecca Lundberg
> 

Re: [RE-wrenches] micro-inverters

[Mike Nelson]

I will look back and see if I have any pictures of excessively damaged 
microinverters. Like the others, we had to send them all back for dissection. 
The Enphase engineering team that I handled my cases and actually came out to 
do on site assessments told me the problems were due to corrosion intrusion.

Michael D Nelson
MD Electric & Solar, Inc.
707-684-0064 mobile
707-884-1862 office
www.mdelectricsolar.com
Sent from my iPhone

> On Sep 14, 2016, at 9:32 AM, Jerry Shafer  wrote:
> 
> Mike
> I also work near the ocean, its all around me here in Hawaii, we have had the 
> 190's fail but not to environmental conditions and very few issues with 
> 215's. Do you have any pics of the damage as l have seen very little salt 
> issues.
> Jerry
> 
> 
>> On Sep 13, 2016 9:11 PM, "Mike Nelson"  wrote:
>> I've had so many Enphase failures it's kind of ridiculous. We install most 
>> of our systems near the ocean so corrosion has played a big factor. The 
>> newer micro inverters are holding a much better, 215 and 250's. I have 
>> learned over the years that SMA makes the best product, and I mostly stick 
>> with them. Sometimes micro inverters are requested or really fit the 
>> installation particulars, so I still use them occasionally. I haven't yet 
>> tried solar edge.
>> 
>> Michael D Nelson
>> MD Electric & Solar, Inc.
>> 707-684-0064 mobile
>> 707-884-1862 office
>> www.mdelectricsolar.com
>> Sent from my iPhone
>> 
>>> On Sep 13, 2016, at 6:23 PM, Rebecca Lundberg  
>>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Esteemed wrenches,
>>> 
>>> I'm hoping the experience of this list can help give us a broader 
>>> perspective on the current market performance and as a secondary concern, 
>>> tech support (or lack thereof), from solar micro-inverter manufacturers.
>>> 
>>> Are others having much trouble with micro-inverters? We have had repeated 
>>> issues with several different brands on our systems in Minnesota:
>>> - 8 Enphase systems with mostly M210 and M215, have had to repeatedly go 
>>> back to sites to replace units. The new replacement ones seem to be lasting 
>>> better (we sure hope they will). Enphase is harder to contact in recent 
>>> years, but we're happy they at least provide a predictable stipend. Are you 
>>> also having to replace a lot of this brand of product? Are the newer models 
>>> holding up better?
>>> 
>>> - We gave a new inverter busbar design concept a try (tenKsolar) and though 
>>> the micro-inverters were supposed to take turns and be 'redundant,' the 
>>> ones with APS micro-inverters needed 100% replacement and the ones with 
>>> Lead Solar micro-inverters have a problem where if one of them fails it 
>>> appears to send a signal to all the rest so the entire busbar stops working 
>>> -- in action it's far from redundant. When we purchased the tenKsolar Rais 
>>> Inverter Bus (RIB) the spec sheet didn't tell us what brand of 
>>> micro-inverter they would use as the OEM so we couldn't research the 
>>> viability of the product or company or warranty stipend (or lack there-of) 
>>> of the micro-inverter OEM. We assumed it was a tenKsolar product and they 
>>> would provide warranty replacements, service, and tech support, but our 
>>> experience has been far from that. When something goes wrong tenK says 
>>> 'it's not our product that's failing' because they don't actually 
>>> manufacture the micro-inverter (it's an OEM), the micro-inverter company 
>>> says 'it's not our product' because tenKsolar has it wired and used in a 
>>> very unique manner specific to the tenKsolar product, so both manufacturers 
>>> are backing away from any responsibility. A 25-year warranty on the 
>>> inverter busbar is a great concept but if/when something goes wrong there 
>>> is no support and no apparent warranty at all except maybe they will send 
>>> us a new component that needs several hours of work to re-install, so 
>>> either the installer does the warranty work for free or the customer has a 
>>> very unexpected expense to get their system back up and running a year or 
>>> two after it was installed; we think both scenarios are unacceptable (from 
>>> our installer perspective :-), do any of you have experiences you can share 
>>> here?
>>> 
>>> I'm wondering if the climate in MN makes us an anomaly. Based on these 
>>> micro-inverter experiences we feel like the Rapid Shutdown rule has forced 
>>> us to use dc optimizers on residential applications whether we want to or 
>>> not -- is that pretty much what all of you are doing too? 
>>> 
>>> Rebecca Lundberg
>>> ___
>>> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
>>> 
>>> List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org
>>> 
>>> Change listserver email address & settings:
>>> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
>>> 
>>> List-Archive: 
>>> 

Re: [RE-wrenches] micro-inverters

[Jerry Shafer]

The 190's had component issues which case them to balloon up
Jerry

On Sep 14, 2016 10:11 AM, "William Miller"  wrote:

> Colleagues:
>
> We have M190s fail in beach installations. Some have had the cases swell
> up like there is a tumor inside. I haven't cut them open to see what's
> inside because they need to go back to manufacturer.
>
> William
>
> On Sep 14, 2016, at 9:32 AM, Jerry Shafer 
> wrote:
>
> Mike
> I also work near the ocean, its all around me here in Hawaii, we have had
> the 190's fail but not to environmental conditions and very few issues with
> 215's. Do you have any pics of the damage as l have seen very little salt
> issues.
> Jerry
>
> On Sep 13, 2016 9:11 PM, "Mike Nelson"  wrote:
>
>> I've had so many Enphase failures it's kind of ridiculous. We install
>> most of our systems near the ocean so corrosion has played a big factor.
>> The newer micro inverters are holding a much better, 215 and 250's. I have
>> learned over the years that SMA makes the best product, and I mostly stick
>> with them. Sometimes micro inverters are requested or really fit the
>> installation particulars, so I still use them occasionally. I haven't yet
>> tried solar edge.
>>
>> Michael D Nelson
>> MD Electric & Solar, Inc.
>> 707-684-0064 mobile
>> 707-884-1862 office
>> www.mdelectricsolar.com
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> On Sep 13, 2016, at 6:23 PM, Rebecca Lundberg 
>> wrote:
>>
>> Esteemed wrenches,
>>
>> I'm hoping the experience of this list can help give us a broader
>> perspective on the current market performance and as a secondary concern,
>> tech support (or lack thereof), from solar micro-inverter manufacturers.
>>
>> Are others having much trouble with micro-inverters? We have had repeated
>> issues with several different brands on our systems in Minnesota:
>> - 8 Enphase systems with mostly M210 and M215, have had to repeatedly go
>> back to sites to replace units. The new replacement ones seem to be lasting
>> better (we sure hope they will). Enphase is harder to contact in recent
>> years, but we're happy they at least provide a predictable stipend. Are you
>> also having to replace a lot of this brand of product? Are the newer models
>> holding up better?
>>
>> - We gave a new inverter busbar design concept a try (tenKsolar) and
>> though the micro-inverters were supposed to take turns and be 'redundant,'
>> the ones with APS micro-inverters needed 100% replacement and the ones with
>> Lead Solar micro-inverters have a problem where if one of them fails it
>> appears to send a signal to all the rest so the entire busbar stops working
>> -- in action it's far from redundant. When we purchased the tenKsolar Rais
>> Inverter Bus (RIB) the spec sheet didn't tell us what brand of
>> micro-inverter they would use as the OEM so we couldn't research the
>> viability of the product or company or warranty stipend (or lack there-of)
>> of the micro-inverter OEM. We assumed it was a tenKsolar product and they
>> would provide warranty replacements, service, and tech support, but our
>> experience has been far from that. When something goes wrong tenK says
>> 'it's not our product that's failing' because they don't actually
>> manufacture the micro-inverter (it's an OEM), the micro-inverter company
>> says 'it's not our product' because tenKsolar has it wired and used in a
>> very unique manner specific to the tenKsolar product, so both manufacturers
>> are backing away from any responsibility. A 25-year warranty on the
>> inverter busbar is a great concept but if/when something goes wrong there
>> is no support and no apparent warranty at all except maybe they will send
>> us a new component that needs several hours of work to re-install, so
>> either the installer does the warranty work for free or the customer has a
>> very unexpected expense to get their system back up and running a year or
>> two after it was installed; we think both scenarios are unacceptable (from
>> our installer perspective :-), do any of you have experiences you can share
>> here?
>>
>> I'm wondering if the climate in MN makes us an anomaly. Based on these
>> micro-inverter experiences we feel like the Rapid Shutdown rule has forced
>> us to use dc optimizers on residential applications whether we want to or
>> not -- is that pretty much what all of you are doing too?
>>
>> Rebecca Lundberg
>>
>> ___
>> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
>>
>> List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org
>>
>> Change listserver email address & settings:
>> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
>>
>> List-Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/re
>> -wrenc...@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html
>>
>> List rules & etiquette:
>> www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm
>>
>> Check out or update participant bios:
>> www.members.re-wrenches.org
>>
>>
>> 

Re: [RE-wrenches] micro-inverters

[William Miller]

Colleagues:

We have M190s fail in beach installations. Some have had the cases swell up 
like there is a tumor inside. I haven't cut them open to see what's inside 
because they need to go back to manufacturer. 

William

> On Sep 14, 2016, at 9:32 AM, Jerry Shafer  wrote:
> 
> Mike
> I also work near the ocean, its all around me here in Hawaii, we have had the 
> 190's fail but not to environmental conditions and very few issues with 
> 215's. Do you have any pics of the damage as l have seen very little salt 
> issues.
> Jerry
> 
> 
>> On Sep 13, 2016 9:11 PM, "Mike Nelson"  wrote:
>> I've had so many Enphase failures it's kind of ridiculous. We install most 
>> of our systems near the ocean so corrosion has played a big factor. The 
>> newer micro inverters are holding a much better, 215 and 250's. I have 
>> learned over the years that SMA makes the best product, and I mostly stick 
>> with them. Sometimes micro inverters are requested or really fit the 
>> installation particulars, so I still use them occasionally. I haven't yet 
>> tried solar edge.
>> 
>> Michael D Nelson
>> MD Electric & Solar, Inc.
>> 707-684-0064 mobile
>> 707-884-1862 office
>> www.mdelectricsolar.com
>> Sent from my iPhone
>> 
>>> On Sep 13, 2016, at 6:23 PM, Rebecca Lundberg  
>>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Esteemed wrenches,
>>> 
>>> I'm hoping the experience of this list can help give us a broader 
>>> perspective on the current market performance and as a secondary concern, 
>>> tech support (or lack thereof), from solar micro-inverter manufacturers.
>>> 
>>> Are others having much trouble with micro-inverters? We have had repeated 
>>> issues with several different brands on our systems in Minnesota:
>>> - 8 Enphase systems with mostly M210 and M215, have had to repeatedly go 
>>> back to sites to replace units. The new replacement ones seem to be lasting 
>>> better (we sure hope they will). Enphase is harder to contact in recent 
>>> years, but we're happy they at least provide a predictable stipend. Are you 
>>> also having to replace a lot of this brand of product? Are the newer models 
>>> holding up better?
>>> 
>>> - We gave a new inverter busbar design concept a try (tenKsolar) and though 
>>> the micro-inverters were supposed to take turns and be 'redundant,' the 
>>> ones with APS micro-inverters needed 100% replacement and the ones with 
>>> Lead Solar micro-inverters have a problem where if one of them fails it 
>>> appears to send a signal to all the rest so the entire busbar stops working 
>>> -- in action it's far from redundant. When we purchased the tenKsolar Rais 
>>> Inverter Bus (RIB) the spec sheet didn't tell us what brand of 
>>> micro-inverter they would use as the OEM so we couldn't research the 
>>> viability of the product or company or warranty stipend (or lack there-of) 
>>> of the micro-inverter OEM. We assumed it was a tenKsolar product and they 
>>> would provide warranty replacements, service, and tech support, but our 
>>> experience has been far from that. When something goes wrong tenK says 
>>> 'it's not our product that's failing' because they don't actually 
>>> manufacture the micro-inverter (it's an OEM), the micro-inverter company 
>>> says 'it's not our product' because tenKsolar has it wired and used in a 
>>> very unique manner specific to the tenKsolar product, so both manufacturers 
>>> are backing away from any responsibility. A 25-year warranty on the 
>>> inverter busbar is a great concept but if/when something goes wrong there 
>>> is no support and no apparent warranty at all except maybe they will send 
>>> us a new component that needs several hours of work to re-install, so 
>>> either the installer does the warranty work for free or the customer has a 
>>> very unexpected expense to get their system back up and running a year or 
>>> two after it was installed; we think both scenarios are unacceptable (from 
>>> our installer perspective :-), do any of you have experiences you can share 
>>> here?
>>> 
>>> I'm wondering if the climate in MN makes us an anomaly. Based on these 
>>> micro-inverter experiences we feel like the Rapid Shutdown rule has forced 
>>> us to use dc optimizers on residential applications whether we want to or 
>>> not -- is that pretty much what all of you are doing too? 
>>> 
>>> Rebecca Lundberg
>>> ___
>>> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
>>> 
>>> List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org
>>> 
>>> Change listserver email address & settings:
>>> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
>>> 
>>> List-Archive: 
>>> http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html
>>> 
>>> List rules & etiquette:
>>> www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm
>>> 
>>> Check out or update participant bios:
>>> www.members.re-wrenches.org
>> 
>> ___
>> 

Re: [RE-wrenches] micro-inverters

[Jerry Shafer]

Mike
I also work near the ocean, its all around me here in Hawaii, we have had
the 190's fail but not to environmental conditions and very few issues with
215's. Do you have any pics of the damage as l have seen very little salt
issues.
Jerry

On Sep 13, 2016 9:11 PM, "Mike Nelson"  wrote:

> I've had so many Enphase failures it's kind of ridiculous. We install most
> of our systems near the ocean so corrosion has played a big factor. The
> newer micro inverters are holding a much better, 215 and 250's. I have
> learned over the years that SMA makes the best product, and I mostly stick
> with them. Sometimes micro inverters are requested or really fit the
> installation particulars, so I still use them occasionally. I haven't yet
> tried solar edge.
>
> Michael D Nelson
> MD Electric & Solar, Inc.
> 707-684-0064 mobile
> 707-884-1862 office
> www.mdelectricsolar.com
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Sep 13, 2016, at 6:23 PM, Rebecca Lundberg 
> wrote:
>
> Esteemed wrenches,
>
> I'm hoping the experience of this list can help give us a broader
> perspective on the current market performance and as a secondary concern,
> tech support (or lack thereof), from solar micro-inverter manufacturers.
>
> Are others having much trouble with micro-inverters? We have had repeated
> issues with several different brands on our systems in Minnesota:
> - 8 Enphase systems with mostly M210 and M215, have had to repeatedly go
> back to sites to replace units. The new replacement ones seem to be lasting
> better (we sure hope they will). Enphase is harder to contact in recent
> years, but we're happy they at least provide a predictable stipend. Are you
> also having to replace a lot of this brand of product? Are the newer models
> holding up better?
>
> - We gave a new inverter busbar design concept a try (tenKsolar) and
> though the micro-inverters were supposed to take turns and be 'redundant,'
> the ones with APS micro-inverters needed 100% replacement and the ones with
> Lead Solar micro-inverters have a problem where if one of them fails it
> appears to send a signal to all the rest so the entire busbar stops working
> -- in action it's far from redundant. When we purchased the tenKsolar Rais
> Inverter Bus (RIB) the spec sheet didn't tell us what brand of
> micro-inverter they would use as the OEM so we couldn't research the
> viability of the product or company or warranty stipend (or lack there-of)
> of the micro-inverter OEM. We assumed it was a tenKsolar product and they
> would provide warranty replacements, service, and tech support, but our
> experience has been far from that. When something goes wrong tenK says
> 'it's not our product that's failing' because they don't actually
> manufacture the micro-inverter (it's an OEM), the micro-inverter company
> says 'it's not our product' because tenKsolar has it wired and used in a
> very unique manner specific to the tenKsolar product, so both manufacturers
> are backing away from any responsibility. A 25-year warranty on the
> inverter busbar is a great concept but if/when something goes wrong there
> is no support and no apparent warranty at all except maybe they will send
> us a new component that needs several hours of work to re-install, so
> either the installer does the warranty work for free or the customer has a
> very unexpected expense to get their system back up and running a year or
> two after it was installed; we think both scenarios are unacceptable (from
> our installer perspective :-), do any of you have experiences you can share
> here?
>
> I'm wondering if the climate in MN makes us an anomaly. Based on these
> micro-inverter experiences we feel like the Rapid Shutdown rule has forced
> us to use dc optimizers on residential applications whether we want to or
> not -- is that pretty much what all of you are doing too?
>
> Rebecca Lundberg
>
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Re: [RE-wrenches] micro-inverters

[Mike Nelson]

Inside the micros, stainless steel through bolt and aluminum case don't work 
well together and allow corrosion into the interior of the circuitry, right 
past the conformal coating. I've also seen them short circuit and blacken the 
back of the PV module directly above them, sounds like a firecracker exploding.

Michael D Nelson
MD Electric & Solar, Inc.
707-684-0064 mobile
707-884-1862 office
www.mdelectricsolar.com
Sent from my iPhone

> On Sep 14, 2016, at 7:54 AM, Jay  wrote:
> 
> Hi mike,
> 
> question. 
> Are you saying the corrosion has been the source of the failures?
> Is this wire connection or actually inside the micro?
> 
> Jay
> Peltz power
> 
>> On Sep 13, 2016, at 6:44 PM, Mike Nelson  wrote:
>> 
>> I've had so many Enphase failures it's kind of ridiculous. We install most 
>> of our systems near the ocean so corrosion has played a big factor. The 
>> newer micro inverters are holding a much better, 215 and 250's. I have 
>> learned over the years that SMA makes the best product, and I mostly stick 
>> with them. Sometimes micro inverters are requested or really fit the 
>> installation particulars, so I still use them occasionally. I haven't yet 
>> tried solar edge.
>> 
>> Michael D Nelson
>> MD Electric & Solar, Inc.
>> 707-684-0064 mobile
>> 707-884-1862 office
>> www.mdelectricsolar.com
>> Sent from my iPhone
>> 
>>> On Sep 13, 2016, at 6:23 PM, Rebecca Lundberg  
>>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Esteemed wrenches,
>>> 
>>> I'm hoping the experience of this list can help give us a broader 
>>> perspective on the current market performance and as a secondary concern, 
>>> tech support (or lack thereof), from solar micro-inverter manufacturers.
>>> 
>>> Are others having much trouble with micro-inverters? We have had repeated 
>>> issues with several different brands on our systems in Minnesota:
>>> - 8 Enphase systems with mostly M210 and M215, have had to repeatedly go 
>>> back to sites to replace units. The new replacement ones seem to be lasting 
>>> better (we sure hope they will). Enphase is harder to contact in recent 
>>> years, but we're happy they at least provide a predictable stipend. Are you 
>>> also having to replace a lot of this brand of product? Are the newer models 
>>> holding up better?
>>> 
>>> - We gave a new inverter busbar design concept a try (tenKsolar) and though 
>>> the micro-inverters were supposed to take turns and be 'redundant,' the 
>>> ones with APS micro-inverters needed 100% replacement and the ones with 
>>> Lead Solar micro-inverters have a problem where if one of them fails it 
>>> appears to send a signal to all the rest so the entire busbar stops working 
>>> -- in action it's far from redundant. When we purchased the tenKsolar Rais 
>>> Inverter Bus (RIB) the spec sheet didn't tell us what brand of 
>>> micro-inverter they would use as the OEM so we couldn't research the 
>>> viability of the product or company or warranty stipend (or lack there-of) 
>>> of the micro-inverter OEM. We assumed it was a tenKsolar product and they 
>>> would provide warranty replacements, service, and tech support, but our 
>>> experience has been far from that. When something goes wrong tenK says 
>>> 'it's not our product that's failing' because they don't actually 
>>> manufacture the micro-inverter (it's an OEM), the micro-inverter company 
>>> says 'it's not our product' because tenKsolar has it wired and used in a 
>>> very unique manner specific to the tenKsolar product, so both manufacturers 
>>> are backing away from any responsibility. A 25-year warranty on the 
>>> inverter busbar is a great concept but if/when something goes wrong there 
>>> is no support and no apparent warranty at all except maybe they will send 
>>> us a new component that needs several hours of work to re-install, so 
>>> either the installer does the warranty work for free or the customer has a 
>>> very unexpected expense to get their system back up and running a year or 
>>> two after it was installed; we think both scenarios are unacceptable (from 
>>> our installer perspective :-), do any of you have experiences you can share 
>>> here?
>>> 
>>> I'm wondering if the climate in MN makes us an anomaly. Based on these 
>>> micro-inverter experiences we feel like the Rapid Shutdown rule has forced 
>>> us to use dc optimizers on residential applications whether we want to or 
>>> not -- is that pretty much what all of you are doing too? 
>>> 
>>> Rebecca Lundberg
>>> ___
>>> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
>>> 
>>> List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org
>>> 
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>>> Check 

Re: [RE-wrenches] micro-inverters

[Jay]

Hi mike,

question. 
Are you saying the corrosion has been the source of the failures?
Is this wire connection or actually inside the micro?

Jay
Peltz power

> On Sep 13, 2016, at 6:44 PM, Mike Nelson  wrote:
> 
> I've had so many Enphase failures it's kind of ridiculous. We install most of 
> our systems near the ocean so corrosion has played a big factor. The newer 
> micro inverters are holding a much better, 215 and 250's. I have learned over 
> the years that SMA makes the best product, and I mostly stick with them. 
> Sometimes micro inverters are requested or really fit the installation 
> particulars, so I still use them occasionally. I haven't yet tried solar edge.
> 
> Michael D Nelson
> MD Electric & Solar, Inc.
> 707-684-0064 mobile
> 707-884-1862 office
> www.mdelectricsolar.com
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On Sep 13, 2016, at 6:23 PM, Rebecca Lundberg  
>> wrote:
>> 
>> Esteemed wrenches,
>> 
>> I'm hoping the experience of this list can help give us a broader 
>> perspective on the current market performance and as a secondary concern, 
>> tech support (or lack thereof), from solar micro-inverter manufacturers.
>> 
>> Are others having much trouble with micro-inverters? We have had repeated 
>> issues with several different brands on our systems in Minnesota:
>> - 8 Enphase systems with mostly M210 and M215, have had to repeatedly go 
>> back to sites to replace units. The new replacement ones seem to be lasting 
>> better (we sure hope they will). Enphase is harder to contact in recent 
>> years, but we're happy they at least provide a predictable stipend. Are you 
>> also having to replace a lot of this brand of product? Are the newer models 
>> holding up better?
>> 
>> - We gave a new inverter busbar design concept a try (tenKsolar) and though 
>> the micro-inverters were supposed to take turns and be 'redundant,' the ones 
>> with APS micro-inverters needed 100% replacement and the ones with Lead 
>> Solar micro-inverters have a problem where if one of them fails it appears 
>> to send a signal to all the rest so the entire busbar stops working -- in 
>> action it's far from redundant. When we purchased the tenKsolar Rais 
>> Inverter Bus (RIB) the spec sheet didn't tell us what brand of 
>> micro-inverter they would use as the OEM so we couldn't research the 
>> viability of the product or company or warranty stipend (or lack there-of) 
>> of the micro-inverter OEM. We assumed it was a tenKsolar product and they 
>> would provide warranty replacements, service, and tech support, but our 
>> experience has been far from that. When something goes wrong tenK says 'it's 
>> not our product that's failing' because they don't actually manufacture the 
>> micro-inverter (it's an OEM), the micro-inverter company says 'it's not our 
>> product' because tenKsolar has it wired and used in a very unique manner 
>> specific to the tenKsolar product, so both manufacturers are backing away 
>> from any responsibility. A 25-year warranty on the inverter busbar is a 
>> great concept but if/when something goes wrong there is no support and no 
>> apparent warranty at all except maybe they will send us a new component that 
>> needs several hours of work to re-install, so either the installer does the 
>> warranty work for free or the customer has a very unexpected expense to get 
>> their system back up and running a year or two after it was installed; we 
>> think both scenarios are unacceptable (from our installer perspective :-), 
>> do any of you have experiences you can share here?
>> 
>> I'm wondering if the climate in MN makes us an anomaly. Based on these 
>> micro-inverter experiences we feel like the Rapid Shutdown rule has forced 
>> us to use dc optimizers on residential applications whether we want to or 
>> not -- is that pretty much what all of you are doing too? 
>> 
>> Rebecca Lundberg
>> ___
>> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
>> 
>> List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org
>> 
>> Change listserver email address & settings:
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Re: [RE-wrenches] micro-inverters

[Mike Nelson]

I've had so many Enphase failures it's kind of ridiculous. We install most of 
our systems near the ocean so corrosion has played a big factor. The newer 
micro inverters are holding a much better, 215 and 250's. I have learned over 
the years that SMA makes the best product, and I mostly stick with them. 
Sometimes micro inverters are requested or really fit the installation 
particulars, so I still use them occasionally. I haven't yet tried solar edge.

Michael D Nelson
MD Electric & Solar, Inc.
707-684-0064 mobile
707-884-1862 office
www.mdelectricsolar.com
Sent from my iPhone

> On Sep 13, 2016, at 6:23 PM, Rebecca Lundberg  
> wrote:
> 
> Esteemed wrenches,
> 
> I'm hoping the experience of this list can help give us a broader perspective 
> on the current market performance and as a secondary concern, tech support 
> (or lack thereof), from solar micro-inverter manufacturers.
> 
> Are others having much trouble with micro-inverters? We have had repeated 
> issues with several different brands on our systems in Minnesota:
> - 8 Enphase systems with mostly M210 and M215, have had to repeatedly go back 
> to sites to replace units. The new replacement ones seem to be lasting better 
> (we sure hope they will). Enphase is harder to contact in recent years, but 
> we're happy they at least provide a predictable stipend. Are you also having 
> to replace a lot of this brand of product? Are the newer models holding up 
> better?
> 
> - We gave a new inverter busbar design concept a try (tenKsolar) and though 
> the micro-inverters were supposed to take turns and be 'redundant,' the ones 
> with APS micro-inverters needed 100% replacement and the ones with Lead Solar 
> micro-inverters have a problem where if one of them fails it appears to send 
> a signal to all the rest so the entire busbar stops working -- in action it's 
> far from redundant. When we purchased the tenKsolar Rais Inverter Bus (RIB) 
> the spec sheet didn't tell us what brand of micro-inverter they would use as 
> the OEM so we couldn't research the viability of the product or company or 
> warranty stipend (or lack there-of) of the micro-inverter OEM. We assumed it 
> was a tenKsolar product and they would provide warranty replacements, 
> service, and tech support, but our experience has been far from that. When 
> something goes wrong tenK says 'it's not our product that's failing' because 
> they don't actually manufacture the micro-inverter (it's an OEM), the 
> micro-inverter company says 'it's not our product' because tenKsolar has it 
> wired and used in a very unique manner specific to the tenKsolar product, so 
> both manufacturers are backing away from any responsibility. A 25-year 
> warranty on the inverter busbar is a great concept but if/when something goes 
> wrong there is no support and no apparent warranty at all except maybe they 
> will send us a new component that needs several hours of work to re-install, 
> so either the installer does the warranty work for free or the customer has a 
> very unexpected expense to get their system back up and running a year or two 
> after it was installed; we think both scenarios are unacceptable (from our 
> installer perspective :-), do any of you have experiences you can share here?
> 
> I'm wondering if the climate in MN makes us an anomaly. Based on these 
> micro-inverter experiences we feel like the Rapid Shutdown rule has forced us 
> to use dc optimizers on residential applications whether we want to or not -- 
> is that pretty much what all of you are doing too? 
> 
> Rebecca Lundberg
> ___
> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
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Re: [RE-wrenches] micro inverters

[Benn Kilburn]

Marco,
I've used SparQ micro-inverters a couple times. 2-3 years ago installed
about 8.5kW and last year about 2kW.  Had a couple issues with the
communication hub, which they readily sent replacements for, no charge, but
no issues with the inverters themselves, yet.

Benn


On Mon, Jul 21, 2014 at 8:15 PM, Marco Mangelsdorf ma...@pvthawaii.com
wrote:

  Hola,



 Other than Enphase and Power-One/ABB, do any of you have experience with
 any micro inverters that you would recommend, especially those in the
 300-watt range?



 Thanks,

 marco



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Re: [RE-wrenches] Micro inverters not on the roof.

[Larry Crutcher, Starlight Solar Power Systems]

William,
If your Vmp drop is under 2% (my design goal for maximum acceptable loss) I 
can't see any reason why not.

Larry 





On Dec 17, 2013, at 3:00 PM, William Miller will...@millersolar.com wrote:

Friends:
 
I am reworking an existing off-grid system to become a grid-tie with 
micro-inverters.  With your help, we have already determined that the M-190 
inverters will work and we have acquired the 9 of them we need.
 
Since the installation was completed in 1996, the home owner has installed a 
shade cover over a skylight.  Some of the supporting structure is preventing us 
from getting under the modules to install the M-190s.  Each module was fed to 
the equipment cabinet since the combiner was located there.  I have decided it 
will be much easier to install the M-190s in the equipment cabinet.  We have 
everything we need there:  The individual PV leads (in 10AWG), the breaker 
panel and room to mount the inverters.  Can any of you see any reason why the 
M-190s can’t be installed no on the roof?
 
Thanks in advance,
 
William
 
 
 
 
image002.jpg
17395 Oak Rd. Atascadero, CA 93422
www.millersolar.com
805-438-5600 voice
 
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Re: [RE-wrenches] Micro inverters not on the roof.

[Solar]

I did something similar for my lab at the community college I teach at. Long 
story short, the lab used modules mounted outside on an awning and all the 
inverters (string, off-grid and micro) were inside so hookup could be done 
during poor weather or evening. 

Worked out nice. 

Jesse 

Sent from my iPhone

 On Dec 17, 2013, at 4:08 PM, Larry Crutcher, Starlight Solar Power Systems 
 la...@starlightsolar.com wrote:
 
 William,
 If your Vmp drop is under 2% (my design goal for maximum acceptable loss) I 
 can't see any reason why not.
 
 Larry 
 
 
 
 
 
 On Dec 17, 2013, at 3:00 PM, William Miller will...@millersolar.com wrote:
 
 Friends:
  
 I am reworking an existing off-grid system to become a grid-tie with 
 micro-inverters.  With your help, we have already determined that the M-190 
 inverters will work and we have acquired the 9 of them we need.
  
 Since the installation was completed in 1996, the home owner has installed a 
 shade cover over a skylight.  Some of the supporting structure is preventing 
 us from getting under the modules to install the M-190s.  Each module was fed 
 to the equipment cabinet since the combiner was located there.  I have 
 decided it will be much easier to install the M-190s in the equipment 
 cabinet.  We have everything we need there:  The individual PV leads (in 
 10AWG), the breaker panel and room to mount the inverters.  Can any of you 
 see any reason why the M-190s can’t be installed no on the roof?
  
 Thanks in advance,
  
 William
  
  
  
  
 image002.jpg
 17395 Oak Rd. Atascadero, CA 93422
 www.millersolar.com
 805-438-5600 voice
  
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Re: [RE-wrenches] Micro-inverters for 3-phase 220/127 in Mexico

[Chris Mason]

Do you think Enphase be willing to increase the VMax? That's what we do
here when we have 220V 3ph issues. As we are not US based, there is no UL
issue.
I have a project right now that Enphase is the best solution, but the
voltage would be 129v typically, so I would be unwilling to put in stock
units.


On Mon, Apr 15, 2013 at 8:03 PM, Kent Osterberg k...@coveoregon.com wrote:

  Enphase lists the standard operating range for the 208-volt 3-phase
 configuration as 183 to 229 volts. Seems like 220-volt 3-phase might work
 with a little caution about wiring losses.

 Kent Osterberg
 Blue Mountain Solar, Inc.www.bluemountainsolar.com

  On 4/15/2013 4:28 PM, Larry Crutcher, Starlight Solar Power Systems wrote:

 Interesting….Here is a reply from Enphase received on 4-11-13, Hi
 Larry, No we do not have a inverter that will work with this. Our inverter
 is for 240AC 2 Phase, 208AC 3 Phase…




 Larry Crutcher
 Starlight Solar Power Systems






  On Apr 15, 2013, at 1:54 PM, Nick Soleil nsol...@enphaseenergy.com
 wrote:

  Hi Larry,

  Enphase is supplying microinverters into Mexico and supporting the
 127/220 applications.  We have hundreds of installations installed at this
 voltage now.  Feel free to contact me off-line, and I would be happy to
 discuss the details.





 On Mon, Apr 15, 2013 at 1:25 PM, Larry Crutcher, Starlight Solar Power
 Systems la...@starlightsolar.com wrote:

 Wrenches,

   A customer in Mexico wants to start with about 10kW PV. They have
 a 225 kva transformer supplying 220/127 volt 3-phase to the property. They
 are adding buildings/roof space in several stages over the next 4 years and
 want to grow the installation to 120kW of PV solar power.

  Manufacturer data sheets are not real clear. Who makes micro-inverters
 suitable for this? I know Enphase does not.

  Thank you,

 Larry Crutcher
  Starlight Solar Power Systems










 --
 Cordially,
 *Nick Soleil*
 *Field Applications Engineer
 *
 *Enphase Energy*
 Mobile: (707) 321-2937

 **
 *Enphase Commercial Solar.* 
 *Limitless.*http://www.enphase.com/commercial?utm_source=emailutm_medium=sigutm_campaign=Comm2012
 *
 *http://www.enphase.com/commercial?utm_source=emailutm_medium=sigutm_campaign=Comm2012
 1420 North McDowell
  Petaluma, CA 94954

 www.enphase.com http://www.enphaseenergy.com/
 P: (707) 763-4784 x7267
 F: (707) 763-0784
 E: nsol...@enphaseenergy.com

  image002.jpg Certified Solar PV Installer #03262011-300

 “Don’t get me wrong: I love nuclear energy! It’s just that I prefer fusion
 to fission. And it just so happens that there’s an enormous fusion reactor
 safely banked a few million miles from us. It delivers more than we could
 ever use in just about 8 minutes. And it’s wireless! .”

 - William McDonough

 This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may 
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Re: [RE-wrenches] Micro-inverters for 3-phase 220/127 in Mexico

[jay peltz]

Hi all

You might look at HiQ
http://www.hiqsolar.com/

Dave Katz has been using them and likes them a lot

They are a true 3 wire 3 phase. 
And have bidirectional communication. 

Jay

Peltz power

Sent from my iPad

On Apr 18, 2013, at 7:20 AM, Chris Mason cometenergysyst...@gmail.com wrote:

 Do you think Enphase be willing to increase the VMax? That's what we do here 
 when we have 220V 3ph issues. As we are not US based, there is no UL issue.
 I have a project right now that Enphase is the best solution, but the voltage 
 would be 129v typically, so I would be unwilling to put in stock units.
 
 
 On Mon, Apr 15, 2013 at 8:03 PM, Kent Osterberg k...@coveoregon.com wrote:
 Enphase lists the standard operating range for the 208-volt 3-phase 
 configuration as 183 to 229 volts. Seems like 220-volt 3-phase might work 
 with a little caution about wiring losses.
 Kent Osterberg
 Blue Mountain Solar, Inc.
 www.bluemountainsolar.com
 
 
 On 4/15/2013 4:28 PM, Larry Crutcher, Starlight Solar Power Systems wrote:
 Interesting….Here is a reply from Enphase received on 4-11-13, Hi Larry, 
 No we do not have a inverter that will work with this. Our inverter is for 
 240AC 2 Phase, 208AC 3 Phase…
 
 
 
 
 Larry Crutcher
 Starlight Solar Power Systems
 
 
 
 
 
 
 On Apr 15, 2013, at 1:54 PM, Nick Soleil nsol...@enphaseenergy.com wrote:
 
 Hi Larry,
 
 Enphase is supplying microinverters into Mexico and supporting the 127/220 
 applications.  We have hundreds of installations installed at this voltage 
 now.  Feel free to contact me off-line, and I would be happy to discuss the 
 details.
 
 
 
 
 
 On Mon, Apr 15, 2013 at 1:25 PM, Larry Crutcher, Starlight Solar Power 
 Systems la...@starlightsolar.com wrote:
 Wrenches, 
 
 A customer in Mexico wants to start with about 10kW PV. They have a 225 
 kva transformer supplying 220/127 volt 3-phase to the property. They are 
 adding buildings/roof space in several stages over the next 4 years and 
 want to grow the installation to 120kW of PV solar power.
 
 Manufacturer data sheets are not real clear. Who makes micro-inverters 
 suitable for this? I know Enphase does not.
 
 Thank you,
 
 Larry Crutcher
 Starlight Solar Power Systems
 
 
 -- 
 Cordially,
 Nick Soleil
 Field Applications Engineer
 Enphase Energy
 Mobile: (707) 321-2937
 
 Enphase Commercial Solar. Limitless.
 
 1420 North McDowell
 Petaluma, CA 94954
 www.enphase.com
 P: (707) 763-4784 x7267
 F: (707) 763-0784
 E: nsol...@enphaseenergy.com
 image002.jpg Certified Solar PV Installer #03262011-300
 
 “Don’t get me wrong: I love nuclear energy! It’s just that I prefer fusion 
 to fission. And it just so happens that there’s an enormous fusion reactor 
 safely banked a few million miles from us. It delivers more than we could 
 ever use in just about 8 minutes. And it’s wireless! .”  
 - William McDonough
 
 This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may 
 contain confidential and/or privileged information. If you are not an 
 intended recipient, you may not review, use, copy, disclose or distribute 
 this message. If you received this message in error, please contact the 
 sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message. 
 
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 -- 
 Chris Mason
 President, Comet Systems Ltd
 www.cometenergysystems.com
 Cell: 264.235.5670
 Skype: netconcepts
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Re: [RE-wrenches] Micro-inverters for 3-phase 220/127 in Mexico

[Nick Soleil]

Hi Larry,

Enphase is supplying microinverters into Mexico and supporting the 127/220
applications.  We have hundreds of installations installed at this voltage
now.  Feel free to contact me off-line, and I would be happy to discuss the
details.


On Mon, Apr 15, 2013 at 1:25 PM, Larry Crutcher, Starlight Solar Power
Systems la...@starlightsolar.com wrote:

 Wrenches,

A customer in Mexico wants to start with about 10kW PV. They have a
 225 kva transformer supplying 220/127 volt 3-phase to the property. They
 are adding buildings/roof space in several stages over the next 4 years and
 want to grow the installation to 120kW of PV solar power.

 Manufacturer data sheets are not real clear. Who makes micro-inverters
 suitable for this? I know Enphase does not.

 Thank you,

 Larry Crutcher
 Starlight Solar Power Systems








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-- 

Cordially,

*Nick Soleil*

*Field Applications Engineer
*

*Enphase Energy*

Mobile: (707) 321-2937


**

*Enphase Commercial Solar.*
*Limitless.*http://www.enphase.com/commercial?utm_source=emailutm_medium=sigutm_campaign=Comm2012

*
*http://www.enphase.com/commercial?utm_source=emailutm_medium=sigutm_campaign=Comm2012

1420 North McDowell

Petaluma, CA 94954

www.enphase.com http://www.enphaseenergy.com/

P: (707) 763-4784 x7267

F: (707) 763-0784

E: nsol...@enphaseenergy.com

[image: nabcep logo] Certified Solar PV Installer #03262011-300

“Don’t get me wrong: I love nuclear energy! It’s just that I prefer fusion
to fission. And it just so happens that there’s an enormous fusion reactor
safely banked a few million miles from us. It delivers more than we could
ever use in just about 8 minutes. And it’s wireless! .”

- William McDonough



This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may 
contain confidential and/or privileged information. If you are not an intended 
recipient, you may not review, use, copy, disclose or distribute this message. 
If you received this message in error, please contact the sender by reply email 
and destroy all copies of the original message. 

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Re: [RE-wrenches] Micro-inverters for 3-phase 220/127 in Mexico

[Bill Hoffer]

Larry

I believe that APS ( Bluefrog http://bluefrogsolar.com/aps-inverters)
micro inverters can be adjusted down to 180 VAC, so they should  work line
to line in your application. I know that their spec sheet and manual do not
indicate that, but I have installed them in adjusted for a 208 VAC and they
have been sending adjusted units to Hawaii.  You will probably have to
contact them directly to see what can be done.

Bill


On Mon, Apr 15, 2013 at 1:25 PM, Larry Crutcher, Starlight Solar Power
Systems la...@starlightsolar.com wrote:

 Wrenches,

 A customer in Mexico wants to start with about 10kW PV. They have a 225
 kva transformer supplying 220/127 volt 3-phase to the property. They are
 adding buildings/roof space in several stages over the next 4 years and
 want to grow the installation to 120kW of PV solar power.

 Manufacturer data sheets are not real clear. Who makes micro-inverters
 suitable for this? I know Enphase does not.

 Thank you,

 Larry Crutcher
 Starlight Solar Power Systems








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-- 
Bill Hoffer
P.O. Box 1823
White Salmon, WA 98672
suneng...@gmail.com bhof...@sunergyengineeringservices.com
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